The city’s various utility companies and agencies have for decades been working disjointedly in the capital city which has led to unmitigated public suffering. We welcome the move by Dhaka South City Corporation’s (DSSC) to bring all these agencies under one umbrella so that there can be better coordination of development and maintenance efforts. As per government circular, heads of utility companies are required to attend meetings of the two mayors to facilitate better coordination. The mayors now must use that mandate to ensure better services to city residents. The move by the mayor of DSSC to remove illegal bus and truck stands under Mayor Hanif flyover within a fortnight, if successful will go a long way in alleviating hours of tailback. Similar programmes have been laid out to remove illegal structures on city canals. We understand that Rajuk will sit with various stakeholders to determine whether the demolitionof more than 100 risky buildings will go ahead and a committee is working on demolition of box culverts.

But old habits die hard. And unless robustly followed up, such declarations often lose steam after a few months and we return to business as usual. Much has been promised to city residents in the past and it is up to the city fathers to deliver on that. If we want to save money in wasteful public expenditure and reduce public misery that results from uncoordinated development works, then the initiatives undertaken by DSCC must move ahead decisively. We would like to assure the DSSC mayor of our support in his efforts. We hope the mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation will follow suit.